The Road to a New Launch, Part 20: How Many Consecutive Nights Can I Survive Sleeping in a Sleeping Bag at the Office!?
Time to sleep, and this item, fully stocked at the office, comes into play. I've finally entered full-on overnight mode. Proofreading (checking for typos, omissions, and standardizing notation) has begun in earnest. Meanwhile, editorial work is still piling up. I'm right in the middle of a thrilling deadline.
The 6 pages that flew away at this timing
The day before yesterday was a rough one. As I wrote yesterday, it was supposed to be a miraculous day that happens once every 68 years, where Tenshachi (a day when heaven forgives all things), Ichiryumanbai-bi (a day when one grain of rice yields ten thousand), Tora no Hi (Tiger Day), and Taian (a lucky day) all overlapped. But there was a major incident that left me feeling like, "Why, oh why?" A 6-page project flew out the window. Well, to be precise, the one who blew it away was none other than me, due to my own selfishness.
Regardless, I had to come up with an alternative. The person in charge of the scrapped project was Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kobayashi, and a heated debate ensued. He must have been boiling with rage at the tyrant demanding he redo six pages that were almost finished from scratch. As a gentle gentleman, he didn't show it, but I understand how he feels. If someone did that to me, I'd flip the table.
We decided to rethink it during an emergency remote meeting that started at 11:30 PM. We reached a consensus to make it a page featuring great people who remained active even after turning sixty, and we agreed to develop the theme together.
I immediately contacted a friend who witnessed the Rolling Stones' tour the year before last. For "Kanreki Ishin" (Sixtieth Birthday Restoration), the Stones are men to be worshipped. They are great figures. Plus, I can get my hands on valuable photographic evidence from their 2024 tour. Furthermore, I clearly witnessed their 2014 Tokyo Dome concert, which is their last visit to Japan so far. It remains vividly in my memory. I love the Stones, so I could easily write two pages.
This alternative might actually be better
I was eagerly preparing for it, but then I received a better project memo from Kobayashi via email. Hmm, in that case, let's go with this. Moreover, for this project, we have a genius writer, Naoki Kaneko. I got in touch with him to entrust him with three pages, and the deputy editor-in-chief would write the remaining three.
So, amidst a commotion that didn't feel like a once-in-68-years auspicious day, the other deputy editor-in-chief, Kageyama, was endlessly proofreading by my side. On top of that, the marketing manager came to the office to coordinate the project, and everything was in a frenzy heading toward the deadline and release. Late that night, or rather, at the hour when the date had already changed to yesterday, I tucked myself into my sleeping bag.
Giving birth to a magazine is a series of strange and interesting events. It's thanks to my experience that I can act cool and think, "This is nothing yet." I don't panic. However, it's been a while since I've lived in a sleeping bag, so yesterday I slept in my own bed at home. How many consecutive nights can my body withstand this? That, too, is part of the fun!!